2025 Workshops

In-Person Workshops

View past Book Arts Program workshops.

View our signup and refund policy.

Relicensure points for educators are available from the Utah State Board of Education for all workshops. For more information: Email or call 801-585-6019. 

 

March

image of ochre pigments on paper

 

 

 

 

Ochre Explorations:
Drawing Color from the Desert
Elpitha Tsoutsounakis

Saturday, March 29, 10am–5pm

$90

Sold out

Please email bookartsprogram@utah.edu to join our waitlist.

Are you curious about natural pigments and how to engage with them for creative purposes? Join us for this hands-on workshop to explore ochre earth pigments, or iron oxides, and how they might be applied to works on paper. Participants grind and process ochres from multiple Field Studio Geontological Survey (FSGS) research sites and learn how these pigments can be integrated with various binders and media. Think ochre is yellow? Think again. Participants walk away with sample swatches in various hues as well as the basic knowledge to pursue further inquiry and practice.

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Elpitha Tsoutsounakis (she/her) is a Cretan-American designer, printer, and educator based in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is an assistant professor and founding faculty in the Division of Multi-disciplinary Design at the University of Utah where she teaches design studios, research methods, and visual strategy. Her design research practice with Field Studio Geontological Survey (FSGS) engages archives, geologies, and Ochre in sites of extraction to study relations between human and inhuman, life and nonlife. unknownprospect.org
  

Special Events

printer's cut of firecracker

 

 

 

 

 

Booking a Brouhaha
December 13, 2024–February 28, 2025

Book Arts Program students trigger quite a commotion as they showcase the final editions and ingenious bookwork created as part of spring and fall semesters’ courses. As the world of the printed page explodes in different directions, these students utilize the ensuing pandemonium to instigate stunning innovations in the art of the book.


Your Place, Your Pace: Bookmaking Sessions

Join us for Your Place, Your Pace, a selection of pre-recorded workshops designed with your convenience in mind. Enjoy bookmaking from the comfort and privacy of your own home. Each session focuses on a different bookmaking technique and can be completed in one sitting or at your own pace. Take one, or take them all! Participants receive recording links and a materials kit, and are invited to ask questions via email. Availability is limited—don’t miss out!

All workshops are pre-recorded, virtual workshops. Participants receive recording links and materials kit. (Shipping included - an additional $25 will be billed for international shipping.)

 

image of flat-back case bindings

Flat-Back Case Binding 
Emily Tipps

$50

Out of Stock

Most of the hard-cover books we see at the library, bookstore, or on our shelves at home are casebound. This means that the textblock and cover are created separately then adhered together. In this workshop, participants learn the basics of case binding: sewing a textblock with the French web pattern, lining the spine, building a cloth-covered case, and finally “casing in.” The workshop provides solid ground for exploring different variations; case bindings can be thick or thin, rounded or flat-spined, and covered in cloth, paper, leather, or a combination of materials. These durable bindings make excellent journals, sketchbooks, or housing for longer content. List of Required Tools

 

image of secret belgian bound books

Secret Belgian Binding 
Amy Thompson

 $50

Purchase

This binding, developed by Belgian binder Anne Goy in the 1980s, uses primary and secondary sewing to construct the cover and attach the textblock. The book opens flat when complete, and has a distinctive visible sewing pattern that crosses over the spine and onto the boards. List of Required Tools

 

image of Japanese stab albums

Japanese Stab Binding
Jazmin Gallegos

$45

 Purchase

Fabric offers an attractive and durable solution for covering boxes and book covers, but ready-made bookcloth presents a limited palette of mostly solid colors and humdrum textures. Don't get hemmed in by run-of-the-mill choices! Instead, back textiles with Japanese paper for use as bookcloth. Want to cover an artist's book with calico from grandma's apron? Think art-deco-printed percale would make a swell cover for a blank journal? Would sleek silk be an elegant solution for that photo album? In this workshop, participants expand their ability to tailor bookwork by learning to back natural-fiber fabric with simple materials and easy-to-access tools. List of Required Tools

 

image of fabric turned into bookcloth

Customized Bookcloth: Backing Fabric
Emily Tipps

$55

Purchase

Looking for a simple way to bind single sheets or folios? This workshop presents the perfect solution: the perfect binding! Using a modified approach based on machine binding processes for commercial paperbacks, the instructor guides participants through the construction of a perfect-bound book. A materials kit is provided for a single book and participants are advised on tools to gather or purchase. Leave with a perfect book and the ability to continue the practice. List of Required Tools

 

image of perfect bound books

The Perfect Binding
 Amy Thompson

$45

Purchase

Developed and perfected by Timothy C. Ely, the drum-leaf binding offers an elegant solution for joining single folios. This simple, ingenious book form allows the artist to work freely with single sheets, unencumbered by imposition concerns until the pages are bound. Because the book opens completely flat, content won’t get hung up in the gutter. Leave with a book bound in quarter cloth and paper covered boards. List of Required Tools

 

image of drum leaf bound book

Content Round-Up: The Drum-Leaf Binding
Marnie Powers-Torrey

$45

Purchase

Developed and perfected by Timothy C. Ely, the drum-leaf binding offers an elegant solution for joining single folios. This simple, ingenious book form allows the artist to work freely with single sheets, unencumbered by imposition concerns until the pages are bound. Because the book opens completely flat, content won’t get hung up in the gutter. Leave with a book bound in quarter cloth and paper covered boards. List of Required Tools

 

 

image of accordion books

Accordion Variations, Session 1
Marnie Powers-Torrey

$35

Purchase

The first session begins with two basic accordions, introduces a hinged-panel accordion composed of pairs of boards, and then concludes with Hedi Kyle’s beloved flag book. This video sequence covers basic tips to building well-aligned accordions, which can be trickier than the simple-looking form suggests.  Developed and perfected by Timothy C. Ely, the drum-leaf binding offers an elegant solution for joining single folios. This simple, ingenious book form allows the artist to work freely with single sheets, unencumbered by imposition concerns until the pages are bound. Because the book opens completely flat, content won’t get hung up in the gutter. Leave with a book bound in quarter cloth and paper covered boards. List of Required Tools

 

The first session begins with two basic accordions, introduces a hinged-panel accordion composed of pairs of boards, and then concludes with Hedi Kyle’s beloved flag book. This video sequence covers basic tips to building well-aligned accordions, which can be trickier than the simple-looking form suggests. List of required tools.


Accordion Variations, session 2
Marnie Powers-Torrey

$35

Purchase

The accordion is a basic book form that can be adapted in many creative ways. The second session explores some options: a concertina with pockets, the retreating accordion, a three-tiered accordion, and a paper slipcase to house the set of books. The slipcase is flexible and can accommodate books from both sessions, if desired. List of Required Tools

 

image of various enbands

Endbands: Recipes and Techniques
Emily Tipps 

$40 

Purchase

Do you want your books to be a little more gourmet? Endbands contribute to the structure and visual presentation of a book. In this workshop, participants learn to make a variety of these sewn (and stuck-on) beauties. The BAP provides the ingredients and recipes; participants just need a taste for the details and the desire to sample something new! This session covers six endband styles, which participants sew onto instructional “recipe cards” for easy future reference. List of Required Tools

 

image of clamshell box

The Clamshell Box: A Safe Place for Books
Emily Tipps 

$65

Purchase

When not being read, a book really just wants to be left alone in a safe place. The clamshell box is an ideal enclosure to keep books protected from dust, water, and light damage, as well as the general wear and tear of life on the shelf. Each participant in this workshop constructs a model clamshell box of a set size. Instruction includes basic strategies for measuring objects and cutting materials for future custom boxes. List of Required Tools

 

 

image of coptic bound books

Coptic Binding
Amy Thompson

$45

Purchase

 

In ancient Egypt, the Copts used this binding technique for hundreds of years. Notable for the chain links across the spine and sewn-on boards, the binding is very flexible and can open to 360º for display. List of Required Tools

 

image of longstitch

Long-Stitch with Leather
Amy Thompson

$50

Purchase

 

The elegant long-stitch has been used for inventive artists’ books and beautiful journals, but don’t be fooled by the apparent complexity of this exposed-sewing binding. Participants receive one set of materials, and the instructor shares examples with an assortment of thread, buttons, covers, and closures to ensure that the long-stitch never gets old. List of Required Tools